AURUM: So, you've had a chance to rest! That's nice. There's soup - a different kind of soup, breakfast-ey soup somehow, bubbling happily in the cauldron when you wake up. Also, coffee, with giant coffee mugs.
Ezekiel: The only soup that remains… is in bellies.Nameless‘ warms a part of his precious mythwrap stash near the fireplace and hands those out.Eidolon murbles as he curls about in the oversized study chair he napped in, covered by his greatcoat. Eventually he slides through the sleeves and works to a stand, adds a touch of whiskey to his coffee, and takes a mythwrap.Nine continues to eat a lot more lightly than everyone else in the party, he looks at the wrap that Peregrine hands out, or the piece of it, and has some. He remains silent as he drinks his coffeeClarafina chews through one. "This taste… I wonder why I find it nostalgic?"Ezekiel is always down with More Food.Solberg has, by now, finished several cups of coffee, and is just staring out a window, idly spinning a mug on their finger.Nameless` shrugs. "A man brings the recipe from home. He has not had time to cook them himself but these are excellently close."
Clarafina: "Home? I guess that explains it."
Nine: "They’re good, although a little unusual" he had his one cup, enough
AURUM: Eventually, your host appears - it seems like she slept in, but then, how did the food get made precisely on time for all of you to wake up and wander out? It is a mystery. She's got a large, triple-walled glass jar under one arm; it looks distinctly like Scientific Apparatus.Nameless‘ doesn’t even count how many cups of coffee he had. Odds favor it was a fair bit.
AURUM: "Sleep well?" She sets the glass jar down on a table - there's something hard-to-see and blue inside.
Eidolon: "Good morning, miss."
Eidolon: "Warm and toasty. It has been a lovely respite from the bitter winter."Nine looks at the other nameless one as she comes in, bringing what seems to be a form of sealed containment unit. He nods at her "Good morning, if this is morning. I haven't had coffee this good in a long time"
Ezekiel: "Yuup."
Nameless: "This is very good."Eidolon nods towards the jar. "Trapped a fairy in there?"
AURUM: She smiles, chuckles a little. "It's been long enough since I had visitors, it'd be remiss of me to botch the hospitality once I had the chance." She sets up some more Science Things, or Mysticism Things - it's that aesthetic that blurs the lines, a little. Some flasks Clarafina could recognise and name. "In a manner of speaking."Clarafina nods sagely, not saying much for now. She does know, you know. The rarefaction of things. The treatment of things. The purification of things.Nine could only guess, not his field "Huhn… Fairies… I'm curious now"Eidolon sips from his coffee. "Will I need to be ready to fight, as then I'll switch from sips to gulps."
Ezekiel: "Cool bong, yo."
Clarafina: "Well, one can always blame it on fairies… or something like that."Solberg glances back for a moment. "What use do they serve?"
AURUM: "Spirits, not fairies. One of the last remnants of my world- and the… principle of existence, so to speak, that led to the end of that world. The inertial tendency, the tendency for water to flow downhill. In disorder, to freeze, to become stagnant."
AURUM: "However… there are places that could use this energy."
AURUM: "Places where the mana fails to flow."
Nine: "So…"
Nameless: "Well, we'll just have to fix that."
Nine: "Those are like contained mana, in a way. Would they force the flow, or simply… Make a puddle? Is that a good way to say it"
AURUM: "Well, you're already carrying around a little symphony, with you."
AURUM: "Every time you encounter an ancient fiend, festering at the heart of a disordered world, and break through like a shining star -"
Eidolon: "If we climb to the top of all the stories and upend the jar, that should work, shouldn't it? Mana waterfall."
AURUM: "- some of their story trails along in your wake."
Ezekiel: "Oh,"
Nine: "Hrm… I see. So we are using them to clear the obstruction, I imagine then"
AURUM: "You brought them here, too - colours this world hasn't seen." She smiles. "Like little migrating birds carrying seeds from faraway lands."
Ezekiel: This is a neverending story reference! Aurum have I realized this before? I don'
Ezekiel: t remember.
AURUM: She slithers over to Nine, pretends to pluck a seed out of his hair. "Tweet tweet."
AURUM: Bro this entire /thing/ is a neverending story reference. Please get with the program.Nine blinks, just kind of standing incredibly still
Nameless: jesus fucking christ my immersion
Eidolon: "I suppose the first fiend had the right of it then, if us barging through with the occasional murder is a way to get things flowing again."
Ezekiel: "Yeah I just can't remember if this" is a new revelation or not!!!
Clarafina: "…Surgery!"
Clarafina: "If all you have is a body, then everything looks like a medical treatment."
Nine: "You would say that"Solberg catches the cup, bringing the spinning to a halt.
Nine: "But he is alive and well, the jester"
Nine: "Certainly, he plans on not being the one murdered, so I would not believe his words"
Nameless: "There are more things to do with bodies than surgery, your highness."
Clarafina: "Not from a topological perspective!"
Ezekiel: "Wait what are we even talking about"
Nameless: "Mixing metaphors."
Solberg: "Thermodynamics."Eidolon waves a hand. "Oh, he can die too, we just haven't -really- gotten around to it."
Eidolon: "Or maybe he doesn't, isn't the flow more important, anyway?"
Ezekiel: "Oh."
Eidolon: "(Is it important?)"
Solberg: "Although - 'in disorder, to freeze?' Isn't it the other way around?"Eidolon adds another shot of whiskey to his coffee.
Nameless: "Depends on what you think the natural state of water is."
Ezekiel: "Anyway we're probably done here right…?"
Nine: "The flow is the important part, we needn't cause harm over it"
AURUM: She finally cuts in. "Nothing's more important, I don't think. And- forgive me. It's hard to speak precisely about these things, although some of us -do- try."
Clarafina: "…Technically corect."Nine sighs "What science, at it's highest levels, is not impossible to speak in precise terms to those who are not initiated?"Solberg gives Eidolon a disquieting stare, as if to say, 'I see what you did there.'Clarafina coughs. "Correct."
AURUM: "…anyways, Ezekiel's right."Eidolon shrugs apologetically.
Ezekiel: "I'm really good at being right inside books."
AURUM: "We could stand here -talking- about the flow of mana all day, and it'd just stay here in this world, in this jar." She puts a little crystal ball on top of a crystal stick, like a weird van de graaf generator.
Nine: "What we need is to move it on to other worlds"
Nine: "Turn theory to practice. I can do that"
Nine: "Do you have instructions?"
AURUM: She then slithers over to the jar, fiddles with a few things - it's hard to actually see inside the bottle, because whatever's there keeps slipping your notice, nearly impossible to look straight at - a blue glow that isn't any natural colour.
AURUM: "Just… keep doing what you've been doing, really. And, you'll be taking this with you."
Nine: "Simple"
Ezekiel: "Okie dokie."Nameless‘ nods.
Eidolon: "Anything we need to fiddle with on it?"Ezekiel picks up the totally-not-a-magic-bong.
Eidolon: "Anything we shouldn’t fiddle with?"
Solberg: "Don't feed it after midnight, don't get it wet."
AURUM: "Just… relax for a moment…" …and the crystal ball glows bright with the presence of a Spirit, and you all feel something - a calm stillness, like the surface of a mountain lake; stasis, fullness, calming the fire you'd been carrying in your hearts without realising it.Ezekiel then picks up a convinent nearby book, opens it up, and set it upon his head,
Ezekiel: "Is that gremlins or furbies? I always mix 'em up."Nameless‘ rolls his shoulders and neck, relaxing slightly.Nine takes a deep breath, raises an eyebrow at Ezekiel, and waits
Clarafina: "…Hm?"Solberg holds a hand over half their face, stifling a yawn, and gives their host a doleful look between a few fingers. "What’d you do?"
AURUM: There's… no grand moment of unification with the spirit, no bright flashes of light… just, the glow of the crystal ball slowly fading, and the jar is empty.
AURUM: "…that's it, really."
Eidolon: "Hm." His eyes brighten, and the flicker of a sneer vanishes as quickly as you notice it appear.Nameless‘ smiles. "A man is grateful. It was… odd not having that balance.Nine nods "This is certainly a new sensation"
Ezekiel: "It’s no glitter-lava lamp but it's still kinda cool I guess.
AURUM: "…now, if you'll follow me?" She slithers down one of the corridors leading away from the central room, into the roots of the tree.Nine stands up, adjusts his coat a little, follows afterEzekiel rolls forward a bit, then stands up and follows normally.Eidolon downs his coffee, leaving the cup on the mantle. He floats after.Clarafina looks back over her shoulder for a moment, then follows.Solberg would be angry about losing that anger, but no thought or reaction in that direction gains momentum the scant few seconds after it comes into existence. So, they opt for getting more coffee and lagging behind a little before following the rest.
AURUM: Down that corridor - and through a few more rooms and a few more corridors - into an old and abandoned laboratory; the lights flicker on rustily and complain in hushed whispers.Nameless‘ almost glides down the corridor, his steps much more even and his balance superb.Nine gives the lights an angry stare, annoying, but continues nontheless
AURUM: The more you move and walk, the more the immediate effects of the spirit wear off - you feel normal, now, balanced. (Although you didn’t notice being unbalanced at the time, when you fought Prince Prospero - it must have happened, and now you are aligned.) Eventually, through some forbidding-looking doors:
AURUM: A room with a complicated magic circle in poured silver, embedded into the floor.Nameless‘ raises an eyebrow. "Very impressive."
Clarafina: "A mirror upon the floor? To stand upon your own two feet, I suppose."Solberg rattles their head around, becoming more lucid. "Oh. That kind of disorder."
AURUM: She actually laughs out loud at that, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
AURUM: "Similar to the technique I used to send my people to safety…"
AURUM: "…much less complicated, given your unique properties."
Eidolon: "Do we just…" He casually waves a hand over towards the circle. "And try not to drag our feet?"
AURUM: "Stand in the centre, don’t poke any arms or legs out."Nine nods, and walks inside, arms crossed
Nine: "Makes sense"Nameless‘ steps lightly onto the circle.
Ezekiel: "ON IT."Ezekiel glances down at the reflective surface, looking up.Eidolon floats on over, giving the circle a once over as he nears it.Solberg steps on it with little ceremony, expending only the minimal effort for movement.Clarafina crams into the center of the circle.
AURUM: It’s engraved intricately - almost fractally, whorls within whorls, thousands of letters in a script you don't recognise - mesmerising, really - and the naga pours the contents of a tiny glowing vial onto the silver, and it spreads and grows like a vine, shimmering. Illuminating the manuscript, so to speak.
AURUM: "I'll see you all again. I'm sure of it." She smiles, and waves goodbye.Nameless‘ smiles. "Tend to your garden in the meantime."
Eidolon: "Hmm, well… farewell." That’s all he's got.Nine waves "Until next we meet"
AURUM: There's a special wave, just for the Peregrine, and then mirror-silver vines grow up, forming a lattice, then a wall- and leaf-buds break through the quicksilver, green and bright.
AURUM: Unfurl into leaves.Nine meanwhile pulls out his book, writing out a few things
AURUM: There are buds, then blossoms, rich and colourful.
AURUM: The mirror's turned to rich loam, underfoot.
AURUM: The petals of the leaves have writing on them - or that's just the way the flowers grow, with inky sap.
AURUM: ＜混乱大土ヘン ： Ｔｏｏ Ｍｕｃｈ ｏｆ ａ Ｇｏｏｄ Ｔｈｉｎｇ＞
AURUM: Written on every single petal of every single flower.Solberg perks an ear and peeks back at Ezekiel. Did he say something?
AURUM: The air is warm and moist and rich; it rained recently.Eidolon 's eyes unfocus, refocus. Too much irish coffee.Nine slams his book shut, returns it to where it was. He takes a deep breath, rain… "Omnious title this one"Clarafina spreads her arms wide and discards her fur coat - it's too warm for it!
Ezekiel: NO SUCH THINGNameless‘ steps out of his fancy, though comfortable, shoes and walks barefoot.
Ezekiel: "Sounds like SOME trees partied a little too hadry last night."
AURUM: There’s a thick wall of vines and flowers surrounding you.
AURUM: Birds are chirping, somewhere. (Tropical birds.)Eidolon sniffs the air.Nine walks up to the vines, and starts pulling them away, not like ripping htem apart just making a path
Ezekiel: "(It's all ya'll fuckers. You need some water?)" Ezekiel addresses the tree trunks near himself.
Eidolon: "I'm not sure I'd be surprised or not if they answered you."
Ezekiel: "I know right."Ezekiel starts wading through the jungle,
AURUM: The vines move apart obligingly, when Nine starts tugging at them -
AURUM: Beyond the vines, there's a jungle, although it's…
AURUM: …surprisingly orderly. Like it was a garden once but it's gotten a bit overgrown.
AURUM: There's stonework, and a path, the paving-stones broken by roots and lianas; in the distance there's a dry fountain covered in vines.
Nine: "Hrm…" he looks around, if this was once a garden then there are certainly- Yes, the pathway. He heads onwards towards the fountain
Ezekiel: "I'uno."Clarafina steps with long, striding steps from stone-to-stone, like she's playing floor-is-lava.Eidolon -also- heads for the fountain. Hope it isn't -too- dry.Nameless‘ definitely doesnt move from stone to stone. It’s good to feel the dirt between your toes sometimes.Solberg follows along, half-and-half. Wherever their feet land, neither avoid dirt nor stone.
AURUM: The fountain's at a perfectly straight crossroads, and even though there are leaves everywhere, you can still see a clear shot down one pathway, to a city in the distance - majestic but overgrown stonework, still-functioning dams and waterworks, an aqueduct that looks like it's -made- of kudzu rather than just covered in it.
Nameless: "Fascinating."
Nine: "Too much of a good thing, I guess" he looks towards the city "Abandoned, I hope"
Solberg: "Hm."
Eidolon: "You 'hope'?"
Solberg: "The plants won't speak here, because such isn't the way of things."
Nine: "Destroyed, otherwise"
Nine: "Which is worse"
AURUM: "Well, actually…"
Eidolon: "They could just like the aesthetic-" \
AURUM: You're…
AURUM: …not quite sure where that voice came from, exactly.
Ezekiel: Oh, that wasn't you?
AURUM: Naw, I wouldn't use quotes.Nine raises an eyebrow "Do continue"Eidolon looks about.
Eidolon: "Hm? Hello?"
Ezekiel: "Good point."
Solberg: I'm gonna guess,
Solberg: that it was a plant.
Clarafina: "Hell-o-o-o-o-o-o!"
AURUM: So, here's the thing:
AURUM: There are four trees closest to the fountain, right?Nameless‘ looks around.
Ezekiel: Right.Ezekiel points at each one in turn.
AURUM: And from behind those four trees slide rather louchely four people, except I’m using the term 'people' here perhaps a little loosely:
AURUM: They're not wearing much, strategically placed scraps of tied cloth (that looks like it was very nice, once); their skin is absolutely covered with tattooes that glow and writhe and wriggle.
Nameless: "Nice tattooes."
Ezekiel: "Yo."
AURUM: They've got vines wrapped around their bodies, their legs, their arms; flowers woven into their hair, flowers blooming from their eyes.
Ezekiel: "Wooooah."
Ezekiel: "That last one's not okay." \
Ezekiel: "Unless they're plant people, I guess. Then it's okay?"Nameless‘ narrows his eyes slightly. "Cordyceps. Ish."
Ezekiel: "Actually no that’s still weird, it's like having a dick for a nose."Nine sighs "(At least they're not bears)" he looks at the people who approach "Hello?"
Ezekiel: "Which I think we can all agree would be weird."
AURUM: They talk in a creepy unison - not a monotone, but definitely a unison. "Strangers."
Nameless: "Yep."
AURUM: "Why are you here?"
Eidolon: "And we're as strange as they come."
AURUM: "This isn't a place for you."
Ezekiel: "Duno!"
Nine: "Looking for information, and perhaps a fiend"
Eidolon: "We're here to break all your walls and streams."
Nine: "Is there some danger here which we should be aware of?"Nameless‘ rolls his head loosely. "All places are places for us."
Eidolon: "To ravish your lands with mana and drown the living in its essence."
Eidolon: "…or, well, that’s what we do just passively."
AURUM: They all point to you in unison when Nine asks if there's any danger, and then when Eidolon… says literally anything at all.
Ezekiel: "Comin' on a lil strong, bro."
AURUM: And then they attack.
Ezekiel: "SEE!"Solberg grins widely, thirstily at Eidolon's description, and gives him a thumbs-up.
AURUM: Battle order: Clarafina [F]:36 Mind of its Own A [F]:36 Eidolon [B]:37 Nine [B]:37 Gardened Gardener A [B]:37 Peregrine [F]:38 Mind of its Own B [F]:40 Solberg [B]:41 Gardened Gardener B [B]:41 Ezekiel [F]:43
AURUM: Status for Mind of its Own A : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Status for Mind of its Own B : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener A : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener B : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]Eidolon laughs a little. "I honestly…"
Eidolon: "I'm not sure what I was expecting their reaction to be."
Nine: "Eidolon"
AURUM: Clarafina!
Eidolon: "I'm serious!" He laughs again.
Nine: "You were asking for it"
Nine: "How could it not be obvious, that was almost a war declaration"
Eidolon: "They took it far more serious than I thought."Clarafina draws her axe in a flash and dashes past the one with a mind of its own (A) - and there's a tiny little alchemical splash in the wake of it. [Luckbane - 50D]Clarafina rolled 1d100 and got 83 ( Total: 83 ) for C80/10
AURUM: One of the others tugs it out of the way.Clarafina rolled 1d10+120 and got 5 ( Total: 125.0 ) for 1 luck for the hit, and
AURUM: But she anticipated that action, and hits anyway!Clarafina turns and tugs it back, chopping into its arm.
Eidolon: "It's just, you know, so absurd when you lay it out there like that."
Clarafina: Striking for 125 physical damage! Luckbane burns for 50 damage per spent LP (4)!
AURUM: Hits for [125] and it looks like it hurt!Clarafina fits another tiny glass canister into the hilt of her axe.
Clarafina: "Feeling lucky…?"
Ezekiel: "Ish."
AURUM: "Infestations in my garden."
Clarafina: "The dosage alone makes the poison, you know."Clarafina curtsies politely.
AURUM: Again, with the unison, as Mind A pummels Clarafina in the face! [Attack] [First Punch] [Wild Swing] [50]!AURUM rolled 1d100 and got 98 ( Total: 98 ) for 80 - 20
AURUM: The punch goes wide!
AURUM: Battle order: Eidolon [B]:0 Nine [B]:0 Gardened Gardener A [B]:0 Peregrine [F]:1 Mind of its Own B [F]:3 Solberg [B]:4 Gardened Gardener B [B]:4 Ezekiel [F]:6 Mind of its Own A [F]:39 Clarafina [F]:49
AURUM: Status for Mind of its Own A : [<span style="color: #ff8000;">==== </span>] Luckbane [50](3)
AURUM: Status for Mind of its Own B : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener A : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener B : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Eidolon, Nine!Clarafina backsteps out of the way of the punch, running a hand through her hair once she's free and clear.Nine simply walks up to Mind A, putting that same crystal on the spine of his book, and smacks the book across that being's face [Attack, 40D]Nine rolled 1d100 and got 45 ( Total: 45 ) for 80Nine rolled 1d8+72 and got 6 ( Total: 78 )
[OOC] Nine: HP: 500/500, [TMP: 80] MP: 550/550, LP: 8/8, SoS: 125 - Spell Charge [+20%] (U)
AURUM: Hits, and puts it in SOS!Ezekiel follows in behind nine! [Assist[Ezekiel rolled 1d100 and got 71 ( Total: 71 )Ezekiel rolled d8+91,150% and got 8 ( Total: 148.5 )
Eidolon: "Not too durable, I see." His body dims slighly. [Backfeed] "Anyway, sorry to make a mess, but again it's just what we do-" He raises his hands and two tears in space begin to swirl around them. [Void Junk, CT10]
AURUM: Ezekiel follows up, and Mind A staggers away - the gladiolus-blossom in his eye closes up on itself, and much of the ink drains off his body with a splash, sinking into the loam; he falls backwards into a shrubbery.
Ezekiel: "Uh."
Ezekiel: "This is starting to enter Bad Trip territory, no likely."
AURUM: Mind B's ink turns red. [Payback]
Clarafina: "The tumor's been excised."
Clarafina: "Though the patient seems to be unaffected, there's still three more to excise…"
Eidolon: "Just be sure to wipe your feet after the battle."Nine closes his eyes for a moment "Remote drones with a central control?"Clarafina smiles at Eidolon. "Are you volunteering?"
AURUM: Gardener A starts singing, and Gardener B's hands unfurl into meat-coloured blossoms and curls; the meat-flowers sing as well, and aether flows readily between the two. [Sing Together]
AURUM: Battle order: Peregrine [F]:0 Mind of its Own B [F]:2 Solberg [B]:3 Gardened Gardener B [B]:3 Ezekiel [F]:5 Eidolon [B]:9 Gardened Gardener A [B]:9 Nine [B]:39 Clarafina [F]:48
AURUM: Status for Mind of its Own B : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>] Payback(1)
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener A : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener B : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Peregrine!Nameless‘ pivots, toes digging deep into the soil for stability, blade whipping out in a wide, sweeping slash that carries it through Mind B and ends with it resting back over his shoulders… [Setting Tinder, 60D]
Ezekiel: "Yeah not cool.:Nameless` rolled 1d100 and got 63 ( Total: 63 ) for 85/5Nameless` rolled 1d12+150 and got 10 ( Total: 160.0 )Eidolon absentmindedly plucks a flower from a nearby vine, collapses it into a hand, then opens his hand- it turns into a handkerchief!
AURUM: Hits for [160]!
[OOC] Clarafina: S.A!Clarafina lunges in towards the Mind, delivering a flat, wood-chopping blow. Let’s begin the operation…! [Cut the Strings]Clarafina rolled 1d100 and got 72 ( Total: 72 ) for 80/10 How appropriate…
AURUM: Hits!Clarafina rolled 1d10*1.1+120*1.1 and got 7 ( Total: 139.7 ) for Domino Effect
AURUM: It hits, and the ink starts wriggling, the vines start shuddering. [139]
AURUM: SOS!
AURUM: Mind B swings at Clarafina! [Attack] [First Punch] [Payback]AURUM rolled 1d100 and got 22 ( Total: 22 )Solberg intercepts! [Guard Assist]AURUM rolled d8+72,160% and got 7 ( Total: 126.4 )
AURUM: Dealing [126] damage! The ink on its body shifts to spell out "Clarafina, You're Next." [Warning - will inflict +50% to Clarafina on its next turn.]
Ezekiel: "Huuh."
AURUM: Battle order: Solberg [B]:0 Gardened Gardener B [B]:0 Ezekiel [F]:2 Eidolon [B]:6 Gardened Gardener A [B]:6 Nine [B]:36 Mind of its Own B [F]:39 Clarafina [F]:45 Peregrine [F]:57
AURUM: Status for Mind of its Own B : []
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener A : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener B : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Solberg!Clarafina wags a disapproving finger, then slips her gas-mask on.Solberg takes all of the lazy damage themself, then steps up to the free thinker (MoIO B) and gives it a love-tap. [Attack, 50D]Solberg rolled 1d100 and got 69 ( Total: 69 ) for 80Solberg rolled d10*.8+72*.8 and got 1 ( Total: 58.4 )
[OOC] Solberg: HP: 554/600, [TMP: 40] MP: 600/600, LP: 8/8, SoS: 150
Clarafina: "Seems I've slipped the noose again."
Solberg: "You're welcome."
AURUM: She staggers backwards, petals dropping from her eye - staring at Solberg in confusion before passing out, falling backwards, shedding ink from her body until just the tattoes remain.Eidolon snaps the handkerchief like a whip, catching MoiO B's errant ink that splashes toward Clarafina, ignoring Solberg entirely.
AURUM: Gardener B raises its hands in the air, and forms a triangle out of aether. The aether forms more quickly, because of its companion's singing - [CT 10]!
AURUM: Battle order: Ezekiel [F]:0 Eidolon [B]:4 Gardened Gardener A [B]:4 Gardened Gardener B [B]:8 Nine [B]:34 Clarafina [F]:43 Solberg [B]:48 Peregrine [F]:55
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener A : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Status for Gardened Gardener B : [<span style="color: #008000;">==========</span>]
AURUM: Ezekiel!Clarafina nods seriously. "I am!"Ezekiel dashes forward, feinting once before slamming his dagger into Gardened A and then spinning it around: [After Me] [47D]Ezekiel rolled 1d100 and got 22 ( Total: 22 )Eidolon flicks his other hand out to follow up on Ezekiel's strike with a stellar explosion! [S.A. - Big Bang]Ezekiel rolled d8+91,150% and got 7 ( Total: 147.0 ) for +50% off the assist
[OOC] Nine: Not forget 2 stacks of Domino Effect
AURUM: Hits!
[OOC] Ezekiel: rather, [Power Strike] for my +50, and then hachi gets +50% total, 30 form ability, 20 form dominioEidolon rolled 1d12+180,150 and got 5 ( Total: 277.5 ) for +30 assist me, +20 domino effect
AURUM: Gardener A falls over! [KO]
AURUM: Eidolon!Solberg applies a cube of cue chalk to the tip of their staff, eyeing the remaining Gardener maliciously.Eidolon performs a spin flourish now, the third movement, and claps the tears in space-time together- a Gate to the Universe opens, and space junk flies all over Gardened Gardner B! [Void Junk, 35D]Eidolon rolled 1d8+150 and got 4 ( Total: 154 ) for Marked!There's the sound of beeping- A single metal cylinder hits the ground under Gardener B [S.A. - Interrupt Charge]
AURUM: What a strange and eldritch ability!Solberg - in a flash - strikes an orb of translucent-white energy - or notNine rolled 1d100 and got 20 ( Total: 20 ) for 80It explodes
AURUM: Kerpow!Nine rolled 1d8+72,130 and got 7 ( Total: 102.7 )
AURUM: Gardener B falls over as well, unconscious. [KO]! Victory! 4 XP.
Ezekiel: "Not it."Nine goes over, looking at the fallen bodies. Dead bodies overtaken by plants, isn't it?
AURUM: I mean… they're still breathing. Just unconscious.
AURUM: They look like they're in perfect health, actually!
[OOC] Eidolon: tarU i'm pretty sure I explicitly said I was aiming for headshotsNine raises an eyebrow, kneeling down near it. Plants still part of it, though? Just in case this man has failed his reading skills
Eidolon: "Going to prune them?"Clarafina stows her axe. She walks up to one of the fallen, does a quick inspection - recovering well? Most tumors don't do well after their extraction, after all.
Nine: "I wonder what their nature is like"
Nine: "Are they just remote terminals of a central command, people who did not expect this to happen to them?"
AURUM: The plants… are inextricably part of the bodies. Woven in deliberately, grafted on; most of the tattoes look like they were grown into, as well.
Nameless: "That is how the Cordyceps works. Ish."
AURUM: They look like they're having bad dreams, but it's hard to be sure, isn't it?
Nine: "So those are their actual bodies, they aren't parasites"
Solberg: "Willful symbiosis? This doesn't look coerced."Nameless‘ shrugs.Nine shakes his head at Peregrine "No, the manner the plant life is attached to their bodies makes too much sense for a parasitic life-form, it’s deliberate. It's also too mechanically similar on all four of them, there's a standard being followed"
Nine: "This is likely a willing procedure"
Eidolon: "Good, bad… we're the fellows with the mana."
Nine: "Would you be adverse to us talking to one? I wish to know of their condition, they may know more about what this place is like"
Solberg: "Makes sense, given the architecture here." They glance around. "Everything seems to follow that pattern. A tamed jungle."
Clarafina: "We should go deeper."
Nine: "Do not forget the omnious title of this book, too much ofa good thing"
Clarafina: "It fled into the earth, didn'ti?"
Ezekiel: "What uh."
Ezekiel: "What part of this seems good to you…?"
Nine: "This leads me to believe the central control of this system may have… Gone haywire"Nameless‘ goes to look in the shrubbery where the first thing fell.
Ezekiel: "We’ve entered Bad Trip Land, my friend."Clarafina smiles inscrutably.
Clarafina: "Actually, I think it might be working perfectly…"
Clarafina: "Those who eat flowers… there are stories about people such as these."
Nameless: "We cannot stop here, Ezekiel…"Nine looks at Ezekiel "you keep alluding to all manners of ancient cultural artifacts yet you still missed Eidolon's reference?"
Ezekiel: "All I'm sayin' is I'ma need a burrito before we're done here."Nine stands up, looks at Clarafina "Working as designed does not means working correctly"
Nine: "There is such thing as bad design"Eidolon chuckles. "They actually attacked."
Eidolon: "You can talk to them if you wish, Nine, they don't care much for deadpan."
Nine: "Either way, your idea is a little wrong. Those are plants, they may be connected by their roots, so going deeper may not be quite exactly what we wish to do"
Eidolon: "Isn't our objective… to destroy the root of all of this?"
AURUM: Doesn't seem like there are any roots in the ground, other than the normal kind.
Clarafina: "I suppose that's true, too." She heads for the aqueduct.
AURUM: The ink that drained from the bodies, though…
Clarafina: "Objective…? I'm here for the patient."
AURUM: …flowed downhill, following the stone path leading in to the city.
Nine: "Currently, our singular objective is to, maybe, find the fiend lord"
Solberg: "Hasn't our objective just been to move forward?"
Clarafina: …Into the city, yeah!
Ezekiel: "Yeah mostly forward."Nine looks to the stone path then Clarafina, goes along
Ezekiel: "You don't even have to know which direction forward's in, just move forward."Ezekiel leads by example.
Nameless: "A man did say we couldn't stop here…"Nameless‘ points Ezekeil down the stone path and follows.
AURUM: As you get a bit closer - glimpses of brass and crystal at the heart of the city. People like the one you just saw, drinking straight from reservoirs, splayed out on roofs drinking sunlight. Like ants, still, with the distance. Swarming.Clarafina takes the steps two at a time.Eidolon flashes a wild grin. "Ahh, this is all madness. I’ll have words with Belenus should we ever meet again."Nine looks at the people coming to and fro, hopefully they are not aggressiveNameless‘ follows, shaking his head.
AURUM: I mean, they’re too far away to be aggressive, still.
AURUM: Although a few of them seem to notice you, stand up, watch, point with garlanded arms.Clarafina waves back.
Ezekiel: garland I GET ITNine sighs, looks at the brass and crystal "Hrm… Wasn't brass part of the primary materials on fiends?"
Nine: "We may have a destination"
Nameless: "You may be right, Nine." A small smile. "Once upon a time, a man had a circet made from glass and twisted wire, left behind after killing a fiend. It was a thing of beauty."
Ezekiel: "Sounds kinda uncomfortable though."Nameless‘ shrugs. "There is no art without sacrifice."Solberg looks at the Peregrine with some amount of disgust.Nameless` looks at Solberg. "The fiend left it behind, it would have been rude to leave it."
AURUM: By the time you get to the front gate, there’s a delegation waiting for you - three of the warriors, two of the flower-handed gardeners, and one glorious warrior in battle dress - all golden plates and epaulettes, with a cape of vines and roses, wielding an enormous gladiolus…Eidolon , very quietly, begins to chuckle.
Ezekiel: "(For real though why do they have reproductive organs in their eye sockets.)"
Clarafina: "I'm looking for a cure."
Clarafina: "I believe you have something to offer…?"
AURUM: It salutes you, as you approach.
Nine: "We are looking for information, of varying sorts. I apologize if we are disrupting"
AURUM: Looks like it wants to say something, like it's trying to say something - like it's welcoming you, but also wishing you were anywhere else. Like it's glad to see you, but also, terribly afraid.
Clarafina: "In this capacity, I represent the Soaring Court."
Clarafina: "Come! Let's celebrate." She smiles brightly, removes her mask.
Nine: "Unfortunately, we are not quite masters of where we travel to next. But if-" Clarafina is too loud, just too loud, let her handle this
AURUM: But, before this can be resolved, be it conversation or conflict…
AURUM: …this chapter must draw to a close.